Telephone-meter.



immmmwm. 23, 190?.

N. H. HOLLAND. TELEPHONE METER.

APPLICATION PILBD'JUNEB, 1903.

Z SHEETS-BHEET l;

PATENTBD APR. 23, 1907. N. H. HOLLAND.

TELEPHONE METER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, 190a.

2 sums-SHEET 2.

k .9 all whom it inwy concern:

, removes his receiver to signal central, the i 20 l UXITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEWMAN H. HOLLAND, OF BROOKLINE,"MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO CHARLES BATE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TELEPHONE-METER.

Specificatiorrof Letters Patent.

Patented April 23, 1907;

Application filed June 8, 1903. Serial No. 160,608.

Be it known that I, NEWMAN l-l; IIOLLAND, of Brookline, COUlllfQ' of Norfolk, and State i of Massachusetts, have invented an 1111- provement in Telephone-Meters, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a speci- E fication, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The present invention relates to a telephone meter of the kind located at the subscriber's station, the invention being shown as applied to a telephone motorist-stem in which the operation of the meter depends upon the removal of thereceiversat two connected sub scribers stations, the meter at the calling i subscribers station only being set in condition to operate when the calling subscriber I o eration of the meter, however, not taking ace untilthe called subscriber's line' has iieen connected by thev operator at central I and said subscriber has taken his receiver from-the hook, It is the purpose of the present invention not only to simplify the meter controlling device, but also to provide means for preventing the recordingof connections not satisfactorj to the calling subscriber, in order i that said subscriber need not be charged with a call which he has not used. It 111a)" l happen for example that a subscriber may I .make a mistake in the number which he has l called. for, or that the central ofiice ma through error or misunderstanding connect l the calling subscriber with the wrong line, in either of which cases it is not the )urpose of the company to charge up the call. Again, it sometimes happens that the operator at ccntralollicc accidentally or inadvertently disconnect-s two subscribers before. they have finished their conversation, thus -neces. sitating another call which should not be charged. in accordance with the invention, f the removal of the plug at the central oilice I from the socket of the calling subscribers line while said calling subscriber-s receiver is oil the hook, will cause the call which has f been registered to be canceled through the movement of the registering mechanism in 5 its reverse direction, this happening, of course, in either of the cases above mentioned. For these purposes the actuating member which operates the registering i wheel is caused to remain in connection with said wheel during the use of the telephone and to becomedisengaged from said wheel in response to the hanging up of the receiver while the line is still connected, as always happens during the regular use of the telephone. If, however, the line is disconnected bf. pulling out the plug at the central oilice while the receiver is down, the actuating device is returned to its normal position be- ,iore it is disengaged from the registering nvlxeel, thereby restoring said registering wheel to the position from which it started, and canceling the call whlch was registered.

5 The same cancellation will take place if the operator at central pulls out the plug before the subscribers are through talking. 1n asystem to which the invention is applicable the meter actuating member, which j is in thenature of a pawl, is controlled by a polarized armature under the influence of an l elee'tro-magnet in the normal telephone circuit, the terminals of which are permanently connected with a battery at central, there being however, a condenser in the bell circuit which prevents the current from fiowmg until I the receiver is taken doim. Upon taking down thercceiver, therefore, and permitting the current to flow the armature moves in such a war, as to cause the pawl to travel acertain arranged to be controlled by the successive j takmg down 01' two receivers at connected stations, so that as soon as the stations have 1 been connected and both receivers removed the direction of the current will be changed, causing a movement In the opposite direc- 5 tion of the polarized armature which moves the'recording wheel far enough to record a call.

In the construction which embodiesthe main feature. of the present invention the pawl in its engaging and disengaging movement 1S controlled by a secondary member,

the normal position of which is such as to i hold the pawl out of the path of thewheel,

the said secondary member being operated by the same current which operates the main armature, but being slower in its movement,

so that the pawl will not come into ,engage ment with the wheel until it reaches the I right tooth. The secondary member then remains in its abnormal pdsitionso long as there is current on the line, its armature being nonmoval of the pawl from the wheel.

of the mechanical parts of the mcterat one '.current from t e main battery A will be .caused to flow over the line wires owing to 'the short'oircuiting'of the condenser Bat communicate withthe calling subscriber, a circuit is established through one of the elecpolarized, and the actuating pawl thus' re- 1 mains inengagement with the teeth after regl istration has taken place owing to its return movement. Under normal conditions the f hanging up of the receiver and the disconmeeting of the line at central ofiice causes the g magnet which operates upon-the secondary i armature to be denergized so that the said armature returns to its normal osition, removing the pawl from the whee If, how- 1 ever, the operator at central pulls out the i plug while the receiver is still oil the hook, I the current of the original clarity will then be on the line, the polarize armature immediately moving back to its normal position and canceling the call before the slower moving secondary armature has caused the re- Figure 1 is a general diagram showing the circuits at thecentral ofiice and two connected stations, the vpartsbeing shown in the po-. sition assumed" when one of the two subscribeis has taken down his receiver to call central prior to connection with the station desired; Fig. 2 is a viewon an enlarged scale station; Fig. 3 is a similar view with part omitted showing the mechanism in a different position; 'F' 4 is a vertical section on line 2; of Fig. 3. ooking toward the left; and Fig. 5 is'a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing a modification.

Upon removing the receiver at station 21 shown at the M hand side of the sheet the station 21,'thereby attractin the armature o and li hting the signal li ia D a notify central that connection is wanted. \Vhen central inserts-the answering plug-in order to tro-magnets E so as to attract one of the latch hooks F and remove the same from the engaging portion of the pole changing switch member G. The current winch flows over; the line upon removal of the receiver also passes through a shunt circuit in multiple with the transmitter comprising the conductors 2, 3 and 4, including the electromagne-tic coil 0. which energizes a core ufintorposed between pole pieces b and (F of a permanent magnet If. The polarity of said permanent magnet is such that allow of currentin the normal direction due to the taking down of the receiver will cause the core a to 5 be attracted by the pole piece 1'', so that the said magnet is moved from its normal position shown at the left hand side of Fig. i. This, as will hereinafter be described, sets the meter at the calling station in condition to be operated in response to a movement of the core a in the opposite direction, which movement takes place in response to the removal of the receiverat the remote station 210 when the receiver at said remote station is taken from the hook, after the stations have been connected.

The removal of the receiver at station 210 energizes the other of the elcctro-magnets E, thus causing the attraction of the other hook F, and the pole' changing switch membcrG is then free to move toward the core of the electro-magnctli which is energized by current flowing through the connected'circuits, thus causing a change in polarity of the. current. This change in polarity immediately pro- .duces a movement of the magnet core a toward the pole piece I) which results in the movement of the train of wheels which operate the meter;

In accordancewith the present invention. the pole piece a, which constitutes the main actuating member of the meter mechanism is arranged to act upon a pawl c which actuates a counting mec anism such as a train of wheels of any suitable or usual type, not herein shown, by engagement with the main actuating wheel (I of said train, which is shown as provided with a series of notches d to receive the pawl 0, (Figs. 2,-3, 4 and 5.)

The registration of a call depends upon a movement of the wheel d' toward the left from theposition shown in 5, and the original movement of the core a previously described to the position shown in Fig. 5 100 causes the pawl c to enter one of the, notches d, as shown in said. figure. A ssuming,therefore, that the said pawl remains in the said notch during a moveemnt of the core a, m

in Fig. 3, the wheel (Z will-be turned the distarice between two notches, thereby moving the opposite direction, to the'position shown .105

the counting mechanism in-such a way as to I register the call. This occurs, as has been" previously stated, upon the removal of the no receiver at the called subscriber's station.

In accordance with the present invention,

however, the pawl c is not disconnected from a the notch d until'conversation hashen tinished, and the receiver hung up, so that it is u 5 possible by producing a movement of the core a from its normal position, which it assumes when both receivers are down, back to the abnormal position shown in Fig. 5,

without disengaging the'pawl from the notch '1 20 (1 to restore the counting mechanism to the position from which it started and to thereby cancel the call which has been recorded. To accomplish this the pawl is further controlled by a secondary member 2, which is shown as 12 5 a lever pivoted at e and revide l with an armature a in the field'oi tne core a, the said arm zit-me, however, being non-polarized and arranged to have a slower or more sluggish movenent than that of the core a, 6

which is under the inlluence of the polarized magnet b.

In the normal position shown in Fig. 2 in which the armature a is retracted, the mem- 5 bar e, which has an inclined guide surface i to e06 crate with a pin upon the pawl e, is

in sucl position that the said pawl will be lifted and held out of the path of the periphcry of the wheel d,.so as not to enter the notch to into which it would fall-if left to itself. The

.. slower movement of the secondarymember e,

therefore, causes the said member 2 to remain in such position as to support the pawl during the first movement of the core a", so

.: that the pawl will not be permitted to come into engagement with the peripheryof the wheel (2 until it has passed beyond the notch which normally stands directly below the pawl, and it'will therefore drop into the next ingatthe end of its movement so'that the pawl will merely engage the wheel (1 without producing any. movement. thereof. The

change of polarity 'due to the taking down of 2 5-the called subscriber's receiver will-then produce a movement of the corein the opposite direction, so that the pawl moves the .wheel and registers the call. =While the telephone I is. in use, however, a portion of the current I notch as shown in Fig. 5, the core a then be.-

- 0 will continue to How through the coil a, and

the -parts will remain in the position shown in F1g.- 3Iwith the armature 'e "-of the second ary member e attracted to the core a and the said core attracted to the.pole-piece 1). Un- 5 der normal conditions, therfore, there will be no' change in the conditions until after the receiver has been hung up, thus short circuit ing the coila, and dei'nerg'izing the core a -which permits the armature e to return to 40 its normal position, as shown in Fig. 2, there: by lifting the pawl c out of the notch cl and caving tlle wheeld in the position to which it was moved when connection was first made, with the call duly regisuered. Assuming,

however, that either the subscriber or the operator-at central has made a mistake in the connection and that a call'has been registered .owing to the movement of the core'ufin response to the taking down of the receiver at the wrongly connected station, it is possible in accordance with the present invention for the operator at central 0! lic'e to rectify the error by pulling out the plug at the central-oil ice as soon as she is informed by either subscriber that the mistake has been made, it being necessary only that the plug should be removed before the calling subscriber has hung up his receiver. This becomes practical for the reason that, as previously described, the

'60 pawl c remains in the notch (1 during the con- 'versation, being removed under normal cir- -..cumstanc.es by-the operation of the second-. ary armature e. The same canccllation'of tl no record will take place, of course, if the opera.

- tor at central inadvertently disconnects the subscribersbeforc they are through talking. thereby necessitating a new call, which should not be charged to the subscriber.

The posi tion of tl re ports alter connection has been established and com-'crsation is being carried on is shown in Fig. 3, from which it will be seen that a movement of the core afrom the position shown in, Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 5 will result in the restoration of the whecl'd to the position shown in Fig. 5. i. e. the position from which it started, thus canceling the call which has been recorded by the movement of the wheel from the position shown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 3. .lt will be seen, furthermore, that it the plug is removed by the. operator at central olliee while the receiver is oil the. hook at station 21, the connections through the pole changmg device at the ollice will be broken and the cur 'ent conditions upon the line. will become tll', same as they were w-l'ien the subscriber first removed his receiver; that is to say, the

,at once restoring the core a -to i-ts-normal po sition, without, however, releasing the armature e. a

The release of the pawl from the wheel (I dcDcds'-ui on the-release of the arn'rature e, which does not take place until the receiver has been hung up,'such release taking place regardless ofthe posi-tion'of the pawl, 'since the secondary member e normally 2 where it is entirely out of engagement with the wheeld.

It is obviously necessary that the movement ofvthe armature a should be slower than-that of the core a", or, more strictly speaking, that the pawl 0 should move with sullicicnt rapidity to pass beyond the notch .(l over'which it normally stands before it comes-into engagement with the periphery of the wheel (I, and this may practically be accomplished by the construction shown, in which the core a acts through a lover a", with which it is connected at w", said lever being pivoted at a and connected at its opclbow lever a -which has a bearing on the. axis of the wheel train, the pawl c .beirg pivotally cmmected'to the arm a of the. said elbow lever.

'lhe. movement of the core a. which is rapid in any event, owing to the fact that.- is acted upon by a'polarized magnet, is thus multiplied, so that the pawl 0 will be moved a sullicient distance before the more sluggish armature e has been attracted far enough (0 carry the member (4- out of the path of the projection ,c. In the. restoring operation, however,'it is essential to provide means for insuring the maintenance oft-he armature e in its abnormal orattraeted position when theplug is taken out to cancel the call, in view of the fact that in taking out current will be-ol opposite polarity, thereinholds the pawl in'the position shown in Fig.

posite ondwith a link a connected with an the plug the current may be short circuited a the central o'llice, thereby momentarily deenergizing the whole systenrwhich would result in the immediate retraction of the armature a and the lifting of the pawl out of engagement with the wheel (I. As indicated in Fig. 2, this is accomplished by providing the. member a with a latch orretaining device f, the' normal. position of which is shown in Fi the said latch being pivoted at f and n'ovided with an oflsct weight-j or equiva ent therefor, to yieldingly maintain the said latch in the position shown.

When, therefore, the armature e is attracted the )rojectiou e on the tail 0 of the member e rides up the surface of the memberf and into the not-chf, so that the armature 1' is held in its attracted posit-ion whether the core a. is influenced by current or not.

In order to release the member a and permit the same to return to its normal position after the coils a, have become. decnergized when the telephone is out of use, the member.

f is provided with" an armaturej' arranged as to be acted upon by an electro-magnet which is included in a shunt circuit re )l'6 sented by the conducto 5 and 6, the Switch hook 7,and conductors ,3,9', l0, l2, l3- and 14, (Fig.1.)

. While the receiver is ofl'its book, as shown at station 21, the current is short eireuited by the receiver hook, and does not energize the electro-magnet g,.which is of sullieiently high resistance -to prevent it from being energized-Nvhen the current has a free path through the hook. Assuming, therefore, that the receiver is down, the member a will he supported by the latch as shown, (Fig. 3) and if-\vhe-n the plug is pulled out at central oilice a short circuit takes place so that thereis inomentarilj .no current flowing tin-(n gh the station, the member e will not he inuenced in any way, and will not prevent the cancellation of the call as desired. As soon, howeyer, as the receiver-is hung up,

the curqeutfwhethcr it be of the polarity normally on the line when. the plug is out, or of the'opposite polarity which is on the line when the plug is in, will flow through the shunt circuit energizing the electro-magnet.

- g and attracting the armaturej' so as to release the member a and permit the )arts to return to normal position, hftnrgtic pawl out of normal engagement with the wheel (I.

In order to prevent leakage of current through the shunt circuit when the line is not in use, the said circuit is provided with an automatic switch h, which is controlled by the member 0, the said switch being herein shown as a receptacle of conducting material,-the conducting wall of which is connected with the conductor 10 while the conductor 12 extends into the interior of 'the receptacle throu h an insulating member-h. The said cham r is connected with the member .e so

shown at station 210 to the inclined position shown at station 21 when the armature is attracted, there being a'drop of conducting substance, preferably mercury, indicated by the reference letter It, contained in said receptacle which will fall down into contact with the terminal of the conductor 12 when the armature e is attracted or in its attracted position, thereby closing the shunt circuit hereinbefore traced, which circuit, however, is opened at once upon the release of the member 0 through the action of the latehf. it is not essential, however, that the member 0 should be positively maintained, since under no circumstances will there bem'ore than a momentary cessation of current, and the same object can be accomplished by other expedients. For exam le, as shown in F ig.- 5, the tail 0' of the mem er e may be connected with a dash pot pistonf" of any suitable or usual construction, which will insure such a. slow movement of the armature e. as to prevent it from moving far enough from its abnormal position during any possible cessation of current to'prevent the 'proper operation of the pawl c.

'Tbe wheel (I and the recording train carried thereby are normally held stationary by means of a locking device i, which is shown as a weighted pawl adapted normally to en-' gage with one of the notchesd, as shown in Fig. 2, the said pawl, however, being acted uponby a projection e from the member e which carries the said locking pawl out of en-. gagement with the wheel (I, as shown in Fig. 5, when the armature is attracted. Therefore, even if the member e starts to move in time to permit the pawl c to rub over the periphery of the wheel d before it reaches the desired notch, there will he. no tendency forthe wheel to be frictionally moved by the pawl prior to the engagement thereof with. the right notch, since the locking device does not wholly become disengagednntil the" armature 1' has been full brought to itsattraeted position. Furt ier'more, while "the said armature is in itsfully attracted posis tion as shown in Fig. 5, the wheel (1 will be free to be moved in either direction in respouse to the movement of the pawl c in aceordance with the conditions previously set forth.

In the drawings Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5, the circuit connections have been mainly omitted, these connections being shownasmade through binding posts I, J, and K, (Fig. 2) which correspond to those shown in the diagram, so that it is believed that the connections can be ciearly understood. In Fig. 5 there is no binding lpost I, since the magnet g is dispensed wit shown.

So far as relates to the meter belonging to the called subscriber, there will under normal in the modification l-aanu circumstances be no movement of the recording wheel for the reason that the normal po-' sition of the core a. is that shown inFig. 2, the polarity of thecurrent on the line when the instruments are connected and in use being such as to maintain the said core piece in said'position, so that nothing happens at the called subscriber's instrument except the attraction of the secondary member e, which merely lets the pawl down into engagement with the wheel. It ma sometimes happen,

however, that a subscri erhaving called for the central ofiice without being successful in pawl 1; were to beinefng'agement with thewheel during the movement of the armav tu're from the position shown in Fi 5 to that shown in 3.- The relatively s ow movement of the'secondary member 0, however, controls this, since the said member does not oper'atequickly enough tolet the pawl down until it haspassed beyond the notch in'which it isshown 1n Fig. 5, so that nomovement of the wheel d takes place and no call is registered. This construction 'obviates the necessity for providing the instrumen't with any special appliances controlled for example selectively yincoming and outgoing signals, so that the construction is simplified, al-. though all conditions and emergencies are provided for. 4'

In accordance with the invention. the meter coils are included in a shunt circuit around the transmitter circuit, this being a feature of importance, since the meter circuit in that way is wholly under the control of the re-. ceiver hook, and furthermore, since the me ter magnet affords no impedance to the talking current. Furthermore, this arrangement of circuits'makes it very easy to install'the meter at any existing telephone station without changing the circuits in any way, the meter circuit being merely added.

The operation of the device may be briefly described as follows: When a subscriber takes down' his receiver to call central oflice the core 0. moves rapidly from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 5, carrving the pawl 0 over the periphery of the wheel, the said pawl being supported by the member e during such movement or a part thereof, so that it does not come into active engagement with the wheel until it reaches the right notch, as shown in Fig. 5, by which time the member c has been acted upon to release the pawl and allow it to rest in the desired notch. After connection has been made at central oflice with the desired station, and the receiver at such a station has been taken down, the current of opposite polarity is thrown on the line, causing a movement of the core a in the opposite direction, thus car rying the parts to the position shown in Fig. 3, and registering the call. Assuming that no mistake has been made and the connection is satisfactory, conversation will be carried on until finished, u hen both subscribers will hang up their receivers, the operator at central oflice leaving the connecting plugs in place until she gets her supervisory signals from both stations. The hanging up of the receiver at the calling station will merely cut out the current flowing through the coil 0., so that the armature e will be retracted, the core a remaining in the position which it has assumed after a call has been registered, for the reason that no change of polarity will take place at the central oflice until the electro-magnet H is deenergized, which does not take lace until after the plugs have been pulled out. The pawl 0, therefore, is sim 1y ifted out of engagement'w'ith the whee d, and the parts restored to the normal position, shown in Fig. 2, the wheel d, howevenhaving been turned one notch to the left to register' the call. Assuming, on the contrary,

that either a calling or called subscriber finds that the connection iswr'ong, and so notifies the operator at central, the operator will at once pull the plug out of the calling sub- -scribers socket, this taking place naturally before the calling subscriber has hung up his receiver, the result being that the polarity of the current flowing through the calling station is again reversed, so that the core a is moved back to its normal position, this taking place prior to the deenergizing of the magnet coils a, so that the secondary controlling member is not released and the pawl is not removed from the wheel. The call is thus canceled.

The system in which the invention is em-.. bodied, may be briefly described as that in which a meter is operated through a change in the directiorrof'current flowing over the line. he system is equipped with means for changing the direction of the current in re sponse to the taking down of the receivers at both stations connected, so that no registration can take place unless both parties are at their stations. The invention, however, is principally embodied in the novel construc tion and arrangement of the mechanism which operates directly upon the recording device, and is not limited so far as relates to the specific construction and arrangement of the means for changing the direction of flow of the current.

I claim.

1. In a telephone meter, an actuating wheel for the registering train; an actuating device co-operating witn said wheel; an -opcrating member movable in response to changes in the character of the current on the line to operate said actuating device; and a secondary controlling member for said actuating device to control the engagement thereof with the actuating wheel, substantially as described;

2. In 'a telephone meter, the combination with the actuating wheel; of a pawl to cooperate with said wheel; an eleetro-magnet; an armature movable in response to changes in character of current llowing through said electro-magnet to actuate said pawl; and a secondary controlling armature, provided with retarding means, to control the engagement' of the pawl with the wheel, said arma ture being non-polarized and attracted regardless of changes in the char: cter of cur rent on the line, as set forth.

3. The combination with the actuating wheel; of a pawl to cooperate with said wheel a controlling member normally holding the said pawl out of engagement with said wheel; an operating member for said pawl adapted to move'quickly in one direction or the other in accordance with the character of the current flowing through the instrument; an electro-magnet to-reccive such current; a non- )olarized armature for said controlling member; and means for causing said armature to move more slowly than the said operating member, as set forth.

4. The combination with the actuating wheel; of a pawl cooperating therewith; a

quick moving polarized armature to operate said pawl; a controlling member provided with a relatively slow moving armature to control the engagement of said pawl with the I trolling device for said pawl; a locking member for said controlling device; an electromagnet cooperating with said locking memher; a circuit for said electro-magnet; and an automatic switch in said circuit operated by said controlling device, as set forth.

6. 111 a telephone metering system, a meter or recording device at each station; means i'or operating said meter in response to the consecutive action of currents differing in character; means for causing a current of onc character toilow through a station in re sponse to the closure of the telephone circuit at said station prior to the insertion of a plug in the jack belonging to said station; means for thus closing the telephone circuit at said station; a device for changing the character of the current operating in response to the closure of the telephone circuits at two stations connected together at the central office; and means located at the station for restoring said meter in response to the re-changin of the character of the current which ta es place when the plug is removed from the jack while the telephone circuit is closed.

'.In testimony whereof T have Signed'my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

I N EVMAN H. HOLLAND.-

' Witnesses:

NANCY P. Fonn, IIENRY J. LIVERMORE. 

